Australian Market Notably Higher

(RTTNews) - Recouping some of the losses in the previous two sessions, the Australian stock market is modestly higher on Friday, following the broadly positive cues from Wall Street overnight. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 is moving up to near the 7,800 level, with gains across most sectors led by technology, financial and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 Index is gaining 28.00 points or 0.36 percent to 7,787.60, after touching a high of 7,810.90 earlier. The broader All Ordinaries Index is up 26.70 points or 0.33 percent to 8,029.50. Australian markets ended modestly lower on Thursday.

Among major miners, BHP Group and Fortescue Metals are losing almost 1 percent each, while Rio Tinto and Mineral Resources are down more than 1 percent each. Oil stocks are mostly higher. Santos and Origin Energy are edging up 0.1 to 0.5 percent each, while Woodside Energy is gaining almost 1 percent and Beach energy is adding more than 1 percent.

Among tech stocks, Appen is gaining more than 1 percent, Zip is adding more than 2 percent, Xero is edging up 0.4 percent and WiseTech Global is advancing almost 2 percent, while Afterpay owner Block is edging down 0.2 percent.

Among the big four banks, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Banking, Westpac and National Australia Bank are gaining almost 1 percent each. Gold miners are mostly higher. Evolution Mining, Resolute Mining, Northern Star Resources and Gold Road Resources are edging up 0.3 to 0.4 percent each, while Newmont is advancing more than 1 percent.

In other news, shares in IAG are surging more than 7 percent after the insurance group said it has renegotiated deals with global reinsurers and confirmed it is on track to achieve profits and margins in line with prior guidance in financial 2024.

In the currency market, the Aussie dollar is trading at $0.664 on Friday.

On Wall Street, stocks turned in a lackluster performance during trading on Thursday, with traders looking ahead to the release of closely watched inflation data. The major averages spent the day bouncing back and forth across the unchanged line.

The major averages eventually ended the session modestly higher. The Dow crept up 36.25 points or 0.1 percent to 39,164.06, the Nasdaq rose 53.53 points or 0.3 percent to 17,858.68 and the S&P 500 inched up 4.97 points or 0.1 percent to 5,482.87.

Meanwhile, the major European markets turned in a mixed performance on the day. While the German DAX Index rose 0.3 percent, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index fell by 0.6 percent and the French CAC 40 Index slumped by 1.0 percent.

Crude oil prices settled higher Thursday on hopes about the outlook for demand, and on concerns about possible supply disruptions due to tensions in the Middle East. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for August added $0.84 at $81.74 a barrel.